I don't know what to call 1969...too sophisticated to be 'Primal,' too rough-hewn to be 'Classic,' this show is a great example of the 'try anything once' ethos of that year.
1969 is the year of the oddball cameo, and with all respect to Wayne the Harp and others, the mystery fiddler and saxophonist on this show are easily the best guests of the year, and getting into 'best show with guests ever' territory (and let's not leave out David Nelson with his solo on Mama Tried.) And was that a 29 beat BIODTL? I will confess I lost count.
For most of the first half of the set it's organized chaos, (dig Garcia and Pig each singing a verse of Hi-Heel Sneakers,) but as usual for 1969 they do a beautiful rendition of High Time, this one with the full band (and maybe Peter Grant on pedal steel and Nelson too?)
The jam is the real story though. 'Lounge Lizard' and 'Dark Star' don't get mentioned in the same sentence too often, but for the first few minutes here, that's what you get, followed by 40 minutes of 'free jazz' electric psychedelia.
In general, Dark Star gets the credit, but Caution should be considered the GoGD's acid rock masterpiece, and I'm someone who loves Dark Star to a fault. And while this performance of Dark Star is no slouch, this version of Caution is just insane...like I have trouble accepting that the universe functions as advertised after listening to this...
Definitely gets my vote for 'best GD show with horns' of all time, no question, in spite of some worthy competition.